An outline of the bioterrorism-related topics that should be addressed to students ranging from non-biology majors to microbiology majors. The outline was developed by the participants of the Ninth Annual ASM Undergraduate Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

One of the outcomes of the Ninth ASM Undergraduate Education Conference held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City in May, 2002, was a set of curriculum recommendations for teaching bioterrorism. The 100+ participants were placed into twelve groups based on their teaching audience, and each group was assigned the task of developing an outline of the topics that should be addressed. Although the teaching audiences ranged from non-biology majors to microbiology majors, the outlines were very similar, thus one summary outline is presented below. Every attempt has been made to include input from all of the groups. This summary recommendation is meant to serve as an outline for planning; it does not provide detailed information about each topic. Such information can be found in the resources provided at the end of the article.

Bioterrorism

Define: Distinguish between bioterrorism, biowarfare, and biocrimes

Historical Perspective

Ancient

Recent

The Threat

Who and why

Agents

Primary agents and classes

Characteristics-why these agents

Symptoms

Pathogenicity

Epidemiology-natural and targeted release

Define "weaponized"version(s)

The Outbreak

Surveillance and detection

Response

Prevention

Protection

Local and federal protection and reaction plans

Decontamination

Economic impact

Research and Development

What do we know?

What don't we know?

What is being done?

How will research help?

What do we need?

Ethical Issues

Personal

National

Who needs to know what

When should the public be informed

Cost-benefit ratios

Who should be protected (e.g. vaccination)

Information management

Where to get good information

How to identify good information

Evaluation of news reports

How to communicate with the media

Student perspective

Feedback from the students

Opinions and thoughts

Fears

Misinformation

Information management

What do they need or want to know

The level of content and approach to delivery of the material will depend greatly on the audience. Numerous types of student projects such as reports, posters, flyers for distribution, and invited guests are possible. This is clearly a topic that will interest every student at any level.